Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1930.
The Randolph post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, East Kansas City (1920), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Randolph’s history is told.
Peaked at 219 in 1960; 57 people lived here in 2020.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Randolph’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Randolph.
An early variant name was "East Kansas City" and another was Randolph Heights. The name of the post office changed from East Kansas City to Randolph in 1920, and the post office closed in 1928.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Randolph, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1871 the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company constructed its line of railroad westward from Mexico through Randolph County and from thence westward to Kansas City. With the completion of these several roads and branch lines all constructed within the fifteen years elapsing between 1858 and 1873, Randolph County had probably a greater mileage of railroads than any inland county within the state. At the present day that part of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad extending from Moberly to Hannibal is used by both the Missouri, Kansas and Texas and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
a fancied wrong conjured up by the brain of some would-be chieftain, they would raise the war-whoop and sally forth, seeking whom they might devour. Hence, when in the year 1829, these first settlers of Randolph County, together with others that had then made Randolph County their future home, heard from a messenger, fresh from the scene of the conflict, his fiery charger foaming, being driven by the whip and spur to his utmost speed, that the Indians on the northern borders had raised the war club and were marching rapidly to the settlements, murdering
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Randolph. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Randolph.
Randolph had its own post office from 1844 to 1852. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Randolph post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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